Joel Gilbert has written, directed and produced political documentary feature films on Barack Obama, Iran, and the Middle East conflict, as well as films on music icons Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney, including:

What exactly is “The Art of the Insult”?

The Art of the Insult is the skill of branding political opponents, delivered through performance art. People forget that Donald Trump was in the entertainment business for over 30 years, starting with Miss Universe, then boxing, wrestling, pro football, and his hit TV show, The Apprentice. Trump had seen and done it all when it came to marketing and hype, so he well understood how to manipulate the media and control the narrative with simple concepts. Trump destroyed Jeb Bush’s entire campaign with two words “Low Energy”, it was over! Going after his Republican opponents, Trump was often sophomoric, and sometimes brutal, yet all they could muster in response were complaints that Trump was not nice enough to beat Hillary Clinton.

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What about Trump's skill in counterattacking?

Trump exhibited a talent not only for successfully branding opponents, but also to brilliantly counterpunch, typically with a mix of truth and humor. An early seminal moment occurred during the first debate when moderator Megyn Kelly accused Trump of calling women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals”. Trump stole the moment, if not the election, by responding "only Rosie O'Donnell!" The audience roared their approval. When Trump told reporter Jorge Ramos to "go back to Univision", with no apologies afterwards, one could argue the election was won.

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Why do you believe Trump won?

Trump won because he spoke from the heart and was totally authentic, I think Trump: The Art of the Insult bears this out. Even when he was sporadic and inarticulate, no one cared. Trump said what he said and he meant what he said, and the average person identified with him. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was unlikeable, disingenuous, and forgettable.

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Why couldn't Senator Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump?

I had spent a lot of time with Republican base voters around the country screening my recent films, Dreams From My Real Father and There's No Place Like Utopia. It became clear to me a monumental shift had taken place. The grass roots had moved far to the right of the Republican establishment. In fact, Ted Cruz had played a huge role in conditioning the electorate to desire an "outsider" candidate. Cruz was widely admired for standing up to Obama with his Obamacare filibuster, and for reading Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor. Cruz was THE anti-establishment hero and the election was his to lose. I told Cruz this personally, that he just needed to be Ted Cruz, the outsider, the rebel, "Mr. Cruz goes to Washington"! Instead, Cruz chose an establishment campaign strategy, he created organizations in every state and ran as a mainstream candidate. He wanted to be Jeb Bush. So Donald Trump came along and said, "okay, if you don't want to be Ted Cruz, I'll be Ted Cruz". So Ted Cruz in fact won the election, but in the person of Donald Trump, the outsider, the "Drain the Swamp" persona that Ted Cruz wanted no part of. Trump then branded Cruz as "Lyin' Ted", and completely unnerved him with tweets about his wife and father.

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What will audiences learn from Trump: The Art of the Insult?

I think audiences will gain tremendous insight into Donald Trump. When you watch Trump: The Art of the Insult, Trump emerges as a warm and funny man, a patriotic American who cares deeply about the country and its people. You'll understand why middle America fell for a Manhattan billionaire. You'll see the simplicity of Trump's marketing genius, how he used performance art to deliver strong populist messages as he spoke to crowds of up to 20,000 people, three and four times a day, for months. You'll see how the "Trumpapalooza" tour induced the media into serving up about $ 2 billion worth of free earned media coverage. And, you'll witness how Trump's handful of good marketing ideas "trumped" Cruz's $ 92 million organization and Jeb's $ 120 million in negative advertising.

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Is Trump: The Art of the Insult only for Trump supporters?

Absolutely not. I have screened the film privately for general audiences and Democrats love it as much as Republicans. They can't stop laughing, though sometimes for different reasons. The film is 95 minutes of political incorrectness and fun. Once you start watching, you can't stop, unlike my film Dreams from My Real Father, where leftists would run out of the room after three minutes. Even my socialist, Bernie Sanders loving aunt from San Francisco loved Trump: The Art of the Insult, and she thinks Trump is “deplorable.”